The Year of the Quintaped
by Puff Pastry Breadbug
Summary: The Ministry of Magic has decided to honor an ancient tradition during Levi's second year at Hogwarts. But it quickly spirals out of control, and it's up to the Indestructibles to save them all. Book Two of the Half-Breed Trilogy.
1. 1

**(The beginning of Book Two! This one comes from an idea I had. It'll be revealed soon. Read and enjoy!)**

* * *

><p>"LEVIATHAN!"<p>

Levi McGonagall froze. His mum had bellowed from the street of Diagon Alley, knowing where he'd be. He glanced apologetically at the storeowner of Eeylops Owl Emporium, his favorite Diagon Alley store, and tapped himself wordlessly on the head.

Instantly his body blended in with the background, a cage against a brick wall with a Snowy Owl inside.

He waited for someone to enter the shop. A young witch - first-year, he assumed - had excitedly raced ahead of her parents. She would do.

As she pushed open the door, he cast a subtle Confundus Charm on the girl. She froze, keeping the door open for him to escape.

"Leviathan!" McGonagall yelled again. She was running down Diagon Alley, expertly avoiding the many potholes and uneven cobblestones.

She glanced at the girl suspiciously, then at the Alley at large. It was mostly empty - most Hogwarts students would be coming tomorrow.

"_Homenum revelio,_" she said. Immediately a distortion in the air told her that Levi hid there.

He panicked. Should he run or not?

"_Petrificus totalus,_" his mother said, deciding that for him. "_Ennervate. Levicorpus._"

Levi found himself fully visible and hanging upside-down by his ankle. He grinned at his mother's furious face.

"_Levicorpus_, is it?" he said casually. "Thanks for the tip, Mum, I'll be sure to use it on the first-years."

"Oh well then, I'll leave you to tend the shop while I leave for Hogwarts today…" McGonagall said in mock disappointment.

"WHAT?" Levi shouted, drawing the attention of several passerby. "Oh, _c'mon_ Mum, let me down…"

"_Liberacorpus_," she said with a wicked grin, and Levi found himself flying towards the ground.

"_MOLLIS!_" he shouted desperately. When he hit the ground, instead of a dull thud or a crack the ground sank then bounced back up, like a cushion.

"Nice one," his mom said, appraising his work. She pressed a couple of fingers to the soft stone. "Bit stretchy, though. If you had hit that harder, it would've ripped. Also, I would've though you'd have Conjured a feather bed or something."

"It's hard to concentrate, okay?" he said grumpily. "_Ferreus_," he said to the ground, which became stone again.

"Now come on, get your trunk packed and let's go," McGonagall said impatiently. "I expect you to pack everything-"

"-By magic, I know," Levi said, still hurting from his capture. "I need to get my school stuff-"

"WHAT?" McGonagall shrieked. "We've been here for two months and you haven't gotten your school supplies?"

"Er, no," he said, grinning despite himself.

"Here," his mother said angrily. "Fifty Galleons should be enough."

"Thanks," he said appreciatively.

"On that topic," she began, "What happened to the Fifty Galleons I gave you at the _beginning _of the summer?"

He waved goodbye quickly and ran in the opposite direction.

* * *

><p>His trunk was packed - his Potions supplies carefully sealed in Every-Proof Bags, his books carefully placed everywhere. Levi tucked his eighteen-inch wand into his Undetectably Extended pocket, then wandlessly levitated his trunk up.<p>

For even though he was only a second-year, Levi had an extraordinary power.

_Many_ extraordinary powers, in fact.

He was one of the youngest registered Animagi ever. He could perform silent wandless magic, and invent spells just by saying words in Latin. He could change the wizard prison of Azkaban into a can of sardines, or a mountain into a mouse. He was part of what the Wizarding world had now begun to call 'The Indestructibles'.

"Are you ready to go?" McGonagall asked.

"Mum, can't I stay and-"

"No you may not," she said sharply, her nostrils flaring. "I usually would have left a week ago, but you were enjoying Diagon Alley so much that I didn't want to leave. Anyway, I've opened my office to Apparition for exactly five minutes starting three minutes ago, so we should be off."

He took one last glance around the apartment at Diagon Alley, with the Transfiguration shop below and the cozy living area above. He and his mum had spent countless nights swaddled in blankets - apparently a large grouping of magical cores chilled places, such as Hogwarts and Diagon Alley - reading _Transfiguration Today_ and other stories. Having lived on an island near Azkaban for his pre-Hogwarts life, Levi was quickly making up for lost time reading Wizarding books. He had even started translating whole books into Ancient Runes, which didn't surprise his mother at all, truthfully.

He would never admit it out loud, but Levi _loved_ just saying 'mum'. He had once had another mother, his birth mother - Dolores Umbridge - but in an act to save Minerva McGonagall's life he accidentally killed her instead. As soon as she had offered to adopt him he had considered her his mother, and had had quite the marvelous life since then.

"Well, come on," she said, annoyed. "Let's go!"

"Race you there!" he shouted, and turned on the spot, Disapparating with a loud 'CRACK'.

"Honestly, manners have gone to the dogs," McGonagall sighed, but there was a twinkle in her eye. She spun around and Disapparated as well, but not before putting a good deal of silent Locking Charms on the flat.

"We're here!" Levi yelled joyfully, waking up a dozen portraits.

"Calm down, Mr. McGonagall," a portrait sniffed daintily.

"Oh, shut it, Squirefly," he said dismissively.

"In _my _day, upstart children were dealt with swiftly and-"

"_Depulso_," Levi said quickly, pointing his finger at the portrait. Squirefly's protests were drowned out as he flew out of the side of the painting, through a couple other's Headmasters, and then disappearing from the room altogether. To his amusement, the Headmasters applauded him. In response, he just pointed at the wall and thought what he wanted to do.

"What did you do, boy?" asked a guffawing Fortescue.

"Just Locked him out of the portraits in this room," Levi replied. "I hope he finds a good place to stay in the meantime." The Headmasters began applauding him again

"Levi, come here and stop doing nonsense. We need to discuss your schedule," his mum said briskly, but Levi could tell that she had been amused - and grateful. "I think you should take an Elective or two this year."

"Can I take Ancient Runes with Skoren?" he asked immediately.

"Yes, and seeing how much time you spent in Eeylop's during the summer, you should take Care of Magical Creatures as well. All five of you, that is."

"What are the other Electives?" he asked.

"Well, there's Muggle Studies, which won't be altogether useful for you," she reasoned, "as well as Arithmancy, which you all should learn… and Divination," she finished, wrinkling her nose.

"What's wrong with Divination?" Levi asked cheerfully. His mother pursed her lips.

"I have never… _liked_ the subject, you could say," she replied in a strained voice. "One of the professors who teaches it, Professor Sybill Trelawney, and I have never _gotten along_, you could say."

"Out with it," Levi demanded, and his mother sighed.

"Please don't take that subject, it's an absolute waste of time and, well, it's a load of…"

"Dragon dung?" he suggested with glee.

"Yes," she managed.

"Well then I'll take it," he declared, and she slumped onto her desk in defeat.

"For my birthday present this year, please don't take that class," she pleaded, but Levi scrawled _Divination_ on the schedule his mother had been writing out.

"Fine, but watch when you decide you hate it after lesson one," she warned.

"Minerva?" a soft voice asked from directly behind her. She stiffened, and Levi stopped smiling. It was a voice he knew well.

"Yes, Albus?" she asked.

"Why are the Indestructibles taking Elective classes in their second year?" he asked pleasantly.

"Well, they need an extra challenge," blustered McGonagall, flustered at the sudden question.

"I would advise them to take Divination," he decided, and her eyes flared for a moment before looking down in defeat. "More than one Indestructible, I believe, possesses the Sight."

Levi grinned cheekily at his mother. "I was right," he gloated.

"Yes, I suppose you were," she said, between affection and anger. Suddenly she flexed her ears in a cat-like manner and turning to the side. "An owl's coming."

"Minerva, how on earth could you do that?" a portrait asked in surprise.

"I… I don't know," she said truthfully. "I just heard the flapping of wings…"

"I believe I do," Dumbledore said, and everyone went quiet. "In our old age, the Animagus transformation is very difficult. Some people attempt it too often, and therefore certain traits may be passed from human to Animagus, and back. Eventually, that may become physical traits."

"You mean to say that if I use my transformation too much, I'll grow whiskers?" McGonagall exclaimed in fright.

"I am only guessing, Minerva-" Dumbledore reminded her, but Levi finished his sentence for him.

"-But my guesses are usually right." Dumbledore grinned at him.

The owl in question had finally reached the window, where it perched obediently. Levi fetched a bag of owl treats from his pocket and opened the window, treating the bird to three.

"You'll be the talk of the Owlery," she said wryly, prying free the letter.

As soon as she read it, her face turned pale. She dropped the letter, cleaned her glasses out of nervousness, then looked at the letter again.

"Right…" she began, pulling herself together. "I need to see the Minister. Stay in Hogwarts, and don't get into trouble," she said to Levi. "The house-elves said that you can eat lunch in the kitchen with them."

And with that, she Disapparated.

Or at least, she tried to.

Instead, her entire body flew apart - arms, legs, eyes, noses. Levi shrieked and backed away, accidentally tripping over a finger that was rapidly dividing.

"QUICK, BOY! IT'S THE ANTI-APPARITION CHARMS!" Fortescue roared. "USE _REPARO_!"

"_Reparo_?" Levi screamed in disbelief. "How's _Re_-"

But at him saying the word, his mother stopped breaking apart, and flew back together. Minerva McGonagall swayed, getting used to the feeling of having legs again, then cleared her throat.

"Well then, I'll be back," she announced. "_Portus_." A quill on her desk glowed blue, and her Portkey whisked her away.

"Should I read it?" Levi asked as soon as she was gone."

"Yes," all the Headmasters said at once.

"We can't read it from here," explained Fortescue.

So, without further ado, Levi Summoned the letter to him silently and unfolded it.

_Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Order of Merlin First Class, and Executive Member of the Wizengamot,_

_Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt has decided to begin the ancient tradition of the Creature Calendar once again, and wishes for the Opening to happen at Hogwarts. Please come to the Ministry as soon as possible for more details._

_Sincerely,_

_Coriander Wimpleton, Grand Secretary of the Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt, Order of Merlin Third Class, Member #122 of the Wizengamot, former Head of the Goblin Liaison Office_

"Can any of you tell me what the Creature Calendar is?" he asked, straining to see the higher-up portraits of the earlier Headmasters. "You guys?"

"The entire Wizarding community made an Unbreakable Vow to never speak of the Creature Calendar," explained one. "Sorry. Only thing I can tell you is that it started in 1313 and ended in 1615."

"Looks like I'll be figuring this one one my own," he sighed. "Guess I've found something to occupy my time at Hogwarts."

* * *

><p>Levi had started by asking his mother. Predictably, she had not said a word.<p>

"You know I'm going to keep searching," he told her.

"I suppose," she said.

"And it's no use hiding any books that have information on them, because I'm an Indestructible," he reminded her.

"That's true," she had grudgingly admitted.

Now, he was in the library where, after a great deal of convincing, he managed to get Madam Pince to hand over the ledger that listed all working staff in Hogwarts.

Levi flipped to a random page and found a list of 14th-century house-elves. Surprised that they listed them - Rose went off on tirades about how little rites they had, despite her mum's efforts - he scanned the list.

_Bobbin, 1293-1400._ Lucky guy lived through two centuries.

_Tooby, 1300-1354._ Really, could these names get any weirder?

_Smogle, 1313-_ .

Wait, it hadn't _died_?

This he had to investigate. If the Headmaster portrait had been telling the truth, then maybe Smogle could tell him what the Creature Calendar was. He could picture it now - the faithful house-elf being forgotten about, no one making him part of the Unbreakable Vow…

He raced down to the kitchens, where the house-elves bowed and curtsied ceaselessly, offering plate after plate of delectable food. He refused them politely, then complimented them on their eccentric socks, which were different colors and patterns.

"We be wearing it in honor of Dobby, sir," squeaked a house-elf.

"Dobby? The one who died saving-"

"Harry Potter, sir!" another squeaked, then suddenly took an iron pan and began bashing herself in the head. "BAD MIGEY! MIGEY INTERRUPTED GOOD MASTER! BAD BAD BAD BAD!"

"Migey, it's okay," he soothed desperately. "It's fine."

She stopped bashing herself in the head, but looked utterly terrified.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he promised. "I just came down here to ask if any of you knew a house-elf by the name of Smogle."

There was utter silence, until one house-elf, staring at the floor, spoke.

"We do not speak of Smogle, kind sir," he said, and the others nodded vigorously.

"Smogle is a bad house-elf! He be telling bad things about his master!" one said angrily. More nodding.

"Can you tell me where he is?" Levi asked hopefully.

"We be banishing him from the kitchen," explained one, who seemed to be the leader of them. "Smogle be going off on his own in Hogwarts."

"Winky be knowing Smogle," a quiet voice said.

Levi pivoted on the spot. "Where is he?" he asked quickly.

The house-elf - Winky - was pruning a multicolored bush which crowned an extravagantly strange memorial. Many items of clothing - scarves, hats, and socks - were used as decorations, and a large banner above it read 'Dobby Memorial'.

"Winky be knowing Smogle because he be in the Room of Hidden Things," she explained. "Winky is going in there to look for things for Winky's Dobby Memorial, sir."

"How do I get to the Room of Hidden Things?" Levi asked urgently. This was it, he was almost there.

"Sir must be in the seventh floor corridor, near the tapestry being of Master Barnabas, and walk by the wall facing the tapestry three times, thinking of what good master wants."

"Thanks, Winky," he said gratefully. "You're a good elf."

"MASTER IS TOO KIND!" Winky sobbed, throwing herself at his feet.

Levi patted her head awkwardly and quickly left the room, nodding his thanks to the house-elves as they passed.

Once he was outside the kitchens, he reached out a hand and magically probed the Anti-Apparition Charms around Hogwarts. They had been infused with Runes, the kind that Skoren was always firing at him when he was in a bad mood. Levi had yet to figure them out.

Grumpily he turned into a snake - his Animagus - and went off to the seventh floor. He'd have to convince Skoren to tell him about the runes - maybe he'd slip a little Veritaserum into his pumpkin juice…

* * *

><p>After a while, he reached the seventh floor corridor. Transforming back into a snake, he studied the ballet trolls and bit back a laugh. He couldn't let anyone know he was here.<p>

"_Chamaeleo,_" he whispered, and the Disillusionment Charm surrounded him.

Now, as for the Room of Requirement…

_'I need to see the house-elf Smogle. I need to see the house-elf Smogle. I need to see the house-elf Smogle.'_

He turned to the wall and stifled a gasp. A door had appeared there - but it was house-elf size.

"Oh, bugger!" he swore under his breath. Levi thought for a moment for the right Latin word…

"_Minores,_" he whispered, and shrunk to the size of a house-elf. Easily, he slipped into the Room of Requirement.

It was filled with exceedingly strange objects of all sorts. There were hundreds of towers of items in there, piled haphazardly on top of each other. And the narrow passageways between them were an obstacle course.

"Man, I could live in here," he whispered.

He spotted two Vanishing Cabinets, one of which he could set up in in a restaurant in Hogsmeade. That way, he could get food.

"I could _definitely_ live here," he said again, noticing a deluxe-sized bed nearby.

He noticed several items with burns on it. "Weird," he thought aloud. "I wonder how those got there?" Immediately a book tumbled down one mountain of stuff and landed at a desk in front of him.

"It responds to wishes? Wicked!" he said mischievously. Oh, he couldn't wait to show everyone when they got back.

"_An Account of the Battle of Hogwarts, 2 May 1998._ _Composed by Hermione Weasley née Granger._"

Soon, Levi was immersed in reading, forgetting about Smogle and the Creature Calendar completely.

_After Vincent Crabbe lit the Room of Requirement on fire with Fiendfyre, we escaped. I later believed the room to have burnt down, but Neville Longbottom managed to convince it that he needed it to come back like it had been, so it survived._

"Neville Longbottom?" Levi said incredulously. "_Of course_! Hannah's husband."

"Who be there?" a suspicious voice said.

Levi jumped. Standing on the stack in front of him was an ancient, gnarled house-elf that looked more like a tree trunk than a Being. Levi began to hide before remembering that the Disillusionment Charm was on him.

He snuck to a mirror nearby and Transfigured himself into a replica of Winky, even - somehow - changing his voice.

"Smogle, be that you?" he said, surprised at his squeaky voice. Levi quickly removed the Charm and stepped into the open.

"It be me, Smogle," the house-elf replied. "Hello, Winky."

"Hello, Smogle," Levi replied. "I be sent up here by the Headmistress," he continued, wildly inventing.

"The Headmistress be knowing of Smogle's existence?" he asked, surprised.

"Er, yes," Levi muttered. "She be."

"What does the Headmistress wish of Smogle?" he questioned. Expertly, the curious house-elf slid down the pile of stuff, ending with a somersault onto the desk.

"She wishes to know of the Creature Calendar," Levi said very quickly. Smogle turned pale.

"Smogle does not speak of the Creature Calendar," he whispered. "No, not even for Headmistr-"

And suddenly he was wailing and wailing, pulling his ears and stomping his feet. Angrily Levi realized this must've been how his former master had had him punish himself - by uncontrollably throwing tantrums.

"BAD SMOGLE! BAD SMOGLE!"

"Smogle, please tell me," Levi pleaded, abandoning the peculiar way of house-elf speech.

The house-elf stiffened. He looked Levi, glaring suspiciously. "You be not Winky."

"You're right," Levi sighed, and Untransfigured himself. "But I desperately need information on the Creature Calendar."

"Master told me not to tell," Smogle muttered, his eyes growing wider as he stared at the ground. "But before he could make the Unbreakable Vow, Smogle ran." He burst into tears. "R-r-r-ran away f-f-f-from his master! BAD SMOGLE!"

"Shh, shh, Smogle, it's alright," Levi soothed, getting very angry at whoever had owned Smogle before. "I just need you to tell me what the Creature Calendar is."

"O-o-okay s-sir," Smogle hiccuped. He composed himself and began his tale.

* * *

><p><strong>(So there you have it! What exactly <strong>_**is**_** the mysterious Creature Calendar? Why is McGonagall so worried? How on earth has Smogle survived for so long? Join me next time to find out!)**


	2. 2

**(Okay, so I noticed some inconsistencies with my character Ali's parents. Her 'mother' died when the mermaid eggs were injected into her. So, Ernie remarried another Muggle.)**

"Does you know the story of the Isle of Drear, sir?" asked Smogle.

"No," Levi said. "Tell me, please."

"The Isle of Drear was home to the MacBoon family and the McClivert family, good master. They were in a rivalry. The family heads, Dugald McClivert and Quintius MacBoon, did not like each other, no, not at all. They got into a right wizard's duel after getting drunk, and Mister MacBoon _killed_ Mister McClivert, so he did, sir. The McCliverts weren't very happy-"

"I can't imagine why," Levi snorted, unable to resist.

"Good master, may I continue?" Smogle pleaded, wringing his hands. Levi could tell that this was the beginning of a big secret - if not the biggest - that the house-elf had bottled up inside of him. He must've been waiting to tell someone for three centuries, practicing exactly how he'd say it.

"The McCliverts weren't happy, and they were dab hands at Transfiguration, they were. So on September First, 1318, they Transfigured all the MacBoons into great, five-legged hairy beasts. Quintapeds."

He shuddered, and Levi's hair stood on end for no apparent reason. The house-elf was clearly terrified of the… the Quinta-things.

"The MacBoons were very bad wizards, couldn't do much magic, but now they were much powerfuller. They killed all the McCliverts and inhabited the Isle of Drear. It was made Unplottable because of the Quintaped's fondness for human flesh, and they reside there still."

"Interesting, but how does this relate to the Creature Calendar?" Levi asked impatiently.

"Well, the Ministers of Magic, in that day, had a Diviner who would work for them and only them. The Minister's Diviner, a mistress known as Cassandra Trelawney, made a special Wheel that had a listing of known magical creatures on it, to honor the death of the MacBoons. Every year, on September First, they would spin the Creature Calendar and choose a single animal to be the Creature for that year. Many good masters and mistresses thought it was nothing but good fun, something to bet on, but really, it was far worse…"

Smogle trailed off, and Levi rubbed his shoulders sympathetically. "What was wrong with the Creature Calendar?" he asked quietly.

"E-e-enchantments," Smogle breathed. "Horrific enchantments that made the Creature of the Year powerful. Very powerful."

Levi bit his lip. Why would the Minister want to give that sort of power again? He held back a laugh at the idea of the Creature of the Year being a flobberworm.

"What were the enchantments like?" Levi asked.

"Sentience," whispered Smogle. "All of the creatures thought like sirs and masters now. And soon… disappearances."

"_What_?" Levi hissed, the snake within him rearing up.

"Witches and wizards everywhere," babbled the house-elf. "Gone! Gone! Gone! Disappearing off the face of this goodly earth, kind master!"

Levi's brain was shutting down as he tried to comprehend what Smogle was telling him. A Seer had created a calendar that gave sentience to animals and made people disappear.

"PUREBLOODS!" shrieked Smogle, who was now beyond hysterical. "PUREBLOODS! PUREBLOODS!"

"The Calendar made purebloods disappear?" Levi asked, his eyes widening.

But the house-elf couldn't speak. Nothing Levi could do would soothe him.

_'I need to calm a house-elf,'_ he thought, and a bottle containing a purply haze fell to his hands.

"Here, drink this," he said to Smogle, who unstoppered the bottle and gulped it down.

The Sleeping Draught worked, and soon Smogle had settled down on the desk. Levi gathered a dozen or so blankets, as well as a pillow, and made him a bed.

He left the Room of Requirement soon afterward, with more questions than answers.

* * *

><p>His mum wouldn't tell him any details about her meeting with the Minister, and, to his frustration, the library yielded nothing, even when he tried to Summon books off the shelves.<p>

Finally, it was August 31st, the day before school started.

"Mum, when will the Creature Calendar be announced?" Levi asked nonchalantly.

"Tomorrow," she answered. Levi almost fell out of his chair.

"Mum, the Creature Calendar gives _sentience_ to the animal! The animals start thinking like witches and wizards!" he yelled, abandoning all pretense.

"What?" McGonagall said, freezing. "What did you say?"

"I bet Shacklebolt only told you half of it," Levi began. "I found a house-elf that's been alive since the fourteenth century, he told me all about the Calendar. Cassandra Trelawney started it, but there were hundreds of enchantments on it, and then pure-blood wizards started disappearing…"

"Where is this house-elf?" his mum asked urgently.

"In the Roo- what're you going to do with him?" he asked suspiciously, careful not to call Smogle by name. His mum could easily call him to her with just a yell.

"Oh, nothing," she said airily. "It's just that Shacklebolt didn't tell me much, and I only know the basics, but-"

She was cut off as a gigantic snake suddenly entered her brain. It lashed against her Occlumental walls, attempting to break them down.

"I've learned Legilimency, you know," Levi told her.

"I noticed," she said through gritted teeth, forcing her mental protection to stay strong. However hard she tried, the snake kept pushing and pushing…

She tried another tact - using Legilimency on _his_ Occlumental walls. But he was prepared.

All Minerva saw were two dark, green eyes, before her mountain lion Legilimens was tossed backwards.

In that split second, Levi had all the time he needed. The snake slammed into the wall, and it crumbled instantly. The snake impatiently sifted through the decoy memories before finding one of her talking with the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt.

* * *

><p><em>"Minerva, we are, as we notified you, starting the Creature Calendar once again," began the Minister. "Most of the history is lost in time, but Ronald Weasley found the original Calendar, made by an ancient Minister's Seer, in Knockturn Alley."<em>

_ "But why?" she asked._

_ "A portrait told me to after it told me that September 1st will be the 700th anniversary of the death of the MacBoon clan. The portrait told me that we should honor the MacBoons by re-starting the calendar. As my clerk said in the letter, I wish for the opening to happen during the Welcoming Feast."_

_ "Well, if it must be so," McGonagall sighed. "Thank you for notifying me, Minister."_

_ "Thank you, Minerva," the Minister replied._

_ Neither of them noticed the portrait behind the Minister's desk smile faintly as McGonagall left._

* * *

><p>"ENOUGH!" Levi's mum shrieked, throwing him out of her mind.<p>

"Sorry, Mum, it's just, you weren't telling-" he began.

"Do you have any idea how such forceful Legilimency could permanently damage someone's brain?" McGonagall hissed at him.

"As a matter of fact, no, I don't, because I lived across the street from Azkaban my entire life, I started school last year, and, oh yeah, I'm _twelve_," he retorted venomously. "I'm going to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters to meet my friends. I'll be back here soon."

Levi glared one more time at his mother before turning into a snake and slithering out of the room.

When he reached the outskirts of Hogsmeade, he Disapparated to the platform, where he Transfigured his clothes into school robes. As he straightened his tie, a loud train whistle blasted in his ears.

The Hogwarts Express was coming in from Hogsmeade, painted red and gleaming like always. Levi smiled widely and walked to a corner of the platform.

"_Scourgify_," he said, and the wall was sterilized and cleaned instantly. "_Chamaeleo_," he added, Disillusioning himself. He didn't want to draw attention to himself

He quickly Conjured a bunch of blankets, Disillusioned them as well, and went to sleep on the platform, quite comfortable.

* * *

><p>He was awoken the next morning by a train whistle.<p>

Nearly jumping out of his skin, Levi Vanished the blankets, before removing the Disillusionment Charm. He stared intently at the wall across from him.

"LEVI!" a girl shrieked, pushing through the boundaries. Her raven black hair streamed behind her, and her pale face lit up as she dashed to him, pushing her cart. Following her was a boy with chocolate skin, his eyes slanted upwards and his black hair loosely hanging down to his shoulders.

"Hey!" he said as Ali Macmillan stopped before her cart could ram into him, and hugged him.

"How was your summer?" she asked eagerly.

"Awesome," he grinned. "I terrorized Diagon Alley."

"That's what I like to hear," the boy behind her said. "Wotcher, Levi."

"Wotcher, Skoren," he replied, high-fiving him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, giving his cart to one of the men who were loading up the train.

"Just thought I'd join you," he said easily, but Ali glanced at him with narrowed eyes. He pointedly looked at the train, trying to tell her that he'd explain later. She nodded.

"How's it been in Wales?" he asked Skoren.

"Awesome!" the second-year exclaimed. "Ali's parents are _so _much nicer than… my…"

He trailed off, and the three of them shared an awkward silence. Skoren's parents, one of whom was a Manticore in a human body, had disowned their son and stopped talking to him. Ali's parents, a Muggle and a wizard named Ernie Macmillan, had gladly accepted him as a foster child.

"Ali! Skor! Levi!" a girl's voice shouted.

The station had steadily been filling with other witches and wizards, and now, a family that everyone knew - and loved - burst through the barrier.

Rose Weasley and Albus Potter raced their carts over to the trio, grinning. A little ways behind them, James Potter walked in, already talking to a large group of his friends. Following him were their parents - Hermione and Ron Weasley, and Ginny and Harry Potter.

Albus and James never used their fame to their advantage - unless you counted the times that James had threatened Levi with telling his father in Levi's first year - but were easily very popular. Well, James at least. Albus, who had surprisingly been sorted into Slytherin, only had a small group of friends in his House, including Scorpius Malfoy. The rest of his friends were Hufflepuffs - Ali, Skoren, and Levi - or Gryffindors - Rose.

"Oi!" a new voice yelled, sprinting towards them with a cart.

"Blake!" shouted Skoren, waving. "Over here!"

Blake Finnigan stopped his cart with a screech, high-fiving Skoren on the way.

"Well, that's everybody," Skoren said decisively. "What say we find a compartment?"

"Can't," Albus grimaced. "I promised to be with Scorpius."

"Why would I want to hang out with ickle second-years?" James said loftily, then burst out laughing. "No, but Devon's got a Diricawl, and we're going to figure out if we can use it as some sort of pre-Apparition device to get places, seeing as we can't Apparate until fifth year-"

Levi, Skoren, and Ali turned on the spot and Apparated behind James.

"Oh, stuff it," he retorted, smiling, and walked onto the train. Albus followed suit, talking heatedly with Malfoy.

"See ya, Dad!" called Blake, waving to his father.

Ali and Rose went to hug their parents, and Skoren went and tentatively shook Ali's father's hand. In a split second Mr. Macmillan had grabbed Skoren and hugged him as well.

Everyone met up, and in a flurry of goodbyes, got on the train.

* * *

><p>"Creature Calendar, huh?" Blake said after Levi finished his story.<p>

"This is bad," Ali decided. "Really bad."

"How?" Levi asked cluelessly.

"Um, okay, my dad's a pureblood, at least a quarter of the wizarding population of Britain is pureblood, and knowing our luck, the Calendar will probably land on some five-X creature."

"Oh no," Levi whispered, turning pale.

"What?" Skoren asked sharply.

"Dementors," he told them. "Shacklebolt made Dementors five-X creatures. They were never classified before."

"Bloody hell," Blake breathed, and not even Ali reprimanded him for swearing.

"Mum's having us take Electives this year," Levi informed the group of them.

"Which ones?" Ali asked immediately, her face lighting up.

"Er… Ancient Runes for Skoren and I, all of us are doing Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy, as well as special Divination classes."

"Reckon we can fit all of those into our schedule?" Rose asked with a grin.

"Apparently two of us have the Sight," Levi informed them. Ali snorted.

"My dad told me Divination's a load of rubbish," she retorted.

"Yeah, but your dad didn't trust Harry Potter in his second year," Skoren reminded her.

"Oh, shut it," she snapped good-naturedly.

"ARGH!"

Albus burst into the compartment, shut the door, and looked at the five with wild eyes. "Lock… it… please," he said hoarsely, struggling for breath.

Immediately everyone drew their wands, and sent hundreds of Locking spells, _Protegos_, and other charms at it. Just as they put away their wands, a distinct SLAM came from outside.

"Furnuncu-Wall Jinx," Ali explained. "Skor and I invented it over the summer. If anyone touches it, they're thrown backward and grow boils. If you pair it with a Luring Charm, they keep trying to get in. It's quite funny to watch them try again, really."

Sure enough, the person threw themselves against the doors, and bellowed with pain as more boils erupted on their skin.

"Who is it?" Rose asked Albus. "They don't seem particularly smart. We learned Luring Charms last year in class."

"Er… Lucky Finch-Fletchley, Jason Corner, and Eric Boot," Albus listed.

"No wonder," Blake groaned.

"What's the deal with them?" Ali asked as she cast a couple more spells at the door.

"Well, Lucky's the biggest git Gryffindor's ever seen, and for some ungodly reason, Jason and Eric are in Ravenclaw. Likes of them belong in Slytherin - sorry, Al," Blake said quickly.

"S'okay," he said lightly. "Most Slytherins are gits, I'd be the first to admit it."

"Oh for heavens sakes," Ali said in an exasperated tone, after the three boys had rammed into the wall for the umpteenth time. "_Petrificus Totalus Maxima_."

Soon, three loud thumps showed that all three boys had been petrified.

"What does _that_ one do?" Skoren asked. Levi cracked a smile - last year they had figured out that adding _Maxima_ to any spell would amplify the effect.

"Well, it becomes almost Basilisk-stare like, only without the part where you have to have Mandrakes to save them," Ali began. "And also it can affect more than one person, so they don't have a chance to escape."

"You'd make a fair Auror," Rose said, imitating McGonagall's accent, and everyone burst out laughing.

Levi was overjoyed that he was finally back with his friends. For the next ten months, his mother would be nothing but a teacher to him…

But today, the Creature Calendar begun.


	3. 3

Levi inconspicuously walked into the Great Hall, chattering with his friends. The Sorting went quickly, and they welcomed twelve new Hufflepuffs.

"I have one more announcement," McGonagall said, waiting for silence. Immediately Levi, Ali, and Skoren hissed at the Hufflepuff table to be quiet. She was about to announce the Creature Calendar.

"We are welcoming a new member of the staff today, as our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," she announced. Levi rolled her eyes - after their fight, it _would_ be like her to make him squirm until the feast was over.

"Some of you may be familiar with him. Some may be _extremely_ familiar with him. And others… not so much. Please help me welcome…"

The Indestructibles, Albus, and James gasped as one entity as an unmistakable shock of red hair appeared, grinning sheepishly at the school.

"Professor Weasley."

The Indestructibles burst into applause, and the rest of the school followed suit. Rose was beaming, but still surprised - evidently she hadn't been expecting her father to show up.

"_Expecto Patronum_," Ali whispered, and talked quickly to her pelican Patronus. It flew stealthily under the seats to Rose's legs. Rose listened to it and sent her own Patronus, a wolf, back at Ali.

_'I wasn't expecting it at all,'_ the wolf growled in Rose's voice. Ali looked up at her friend, who was still grinning from ear to ear.

"And now," McGonagall interrupted. "Let the feast begin!"

* * *

><p>"One more course, one more course," Ali soothed urgently.<p>

None of them had touched any food since the beginning of the feast. They were too nervous about the Calendar.

"Dessert _always_ takes the longest!" Skoren moaned quietly.

"That's what you said for the fish, soup, and meat courses also," Ali retorted sharply.

"We don't need another argument this year, thank you very much," Levi hissed under his breath.

Both Ali and Skoren ignored him, but didn't say anything more.

"May I have your attention again, please?" the Headmistress called out from the Professors' table.

"This is it!" Ali muttered. Rose and Blake, not caring about the rules, raced over to the Hufflepuff table, where the other Hufflepuffs kindly made room for them across from Skoren, Ali, and Levi.

"This year, the Minister of Magic decided to reinstate an ancient tradition," McGonagall announced. "It is known as the Creature Calendar."

Nobody made any whispered comments about this. Evidently anybody with parents at the Ministry hadn't been told.

"This wheel, featuring creatures ranging from one-X danger - such as flobberworms-"

A snort of laughter from the Gryffindor table. James had evidently had to handle the creatures in Care of Magical Creatures last year. McGonagall narrowed her eyes at him before continuing.

"-To dangerous five-X creatures like Lethifolds, selects a single animal to represent the year. And the Minister of Magic wishes, as this ancient tradition begins today, to have the Calendar be spun right now."

She clapped her hands, and the ceiling grew stormier than ever. With a great _whoosh_ of wind the candles went out and disappeared, leaving nothing to light the room but the moonlight and the lightning above them.

It slowly began to "rain", growing more and more in strength until the rain was pounding down just above their heads, not getting any of them wet.

"Cool!" Skoren exclaimed, running his hands through the rain. "It's actually wet!"

The snake within Levi hissed in happiness. The sudden chill in the room was perfect for his cold-blooded body.

Suddenly, the moon descended from the sky. Everyone gasped as it slid from the pounding rain, its shimmering surface smooth and milky white.

The Minister of Magic, along with some other officials, entered the room and stood by Professor Weasley, who gaped openmouthed at the descending moon.

As it passed through the rain and into the moonlight, Levi could see that its previously unblemished surface was actually criss-crossed with hundreds of grooves. They ran in erratic directions, every which way, made of what appeared to be metal.

The Minister and McGonagall lifted their hands as one and flicked them. The moon began to spin.

Everyone's eyes were on the shimmering Creature Calendar as it started to spin, slowly at first. It gained speed quickly, until it was but a blur of color.

Without warning it flew across the hall, ricocheting against the wall. It flew back to the other wall, where an angled hit sent it straight for the floor.

The screams of the Hufflepuffs were drowned out by the resounding crash of the Calendar as it slammed into the table, making it crumble into nothing but dust. The rain broke through whatever was holding it there, pouring down on the Hogwarts students.

The Calendar flew back up to the ceiling, flying down to crush the Ravenclaw table. Just before it landed, a booming voice said in a calm, slow manner, "_This too will pass_."

This too will pass. The Creature Calendar slammed into the Ravenclaw table, making it crumble into dust just like the Hufflepuff one, but not a single student was hurt.

_This too will pass_.

The Gryffindor table was next to be crushed, then the Slytherin table. Nobody was even touched by the Calendar.

_This too will pass._

It flew across to a wall, bounding backwards before flying right at eye level with the Hufflepuffs, who had formed two standing lines where they used to sit. As it passed, Levi caught a glimpse of the metal grooves. They were whirring, spinning, moving.

Choosing.

_This too will pass._

Everyone, mesmerized by the Calendar's progress, failed to notice a great deal of silvery ghosts rise up from the entire student body. There were images of dying people, people writhing on the ground in pain, images of shrieking inhuman beasts, of black, tattered robes…

The worst fears of the people of Hogwarts were dispelled as the Creature Calendar cut through them, dissipating the smoke.

_This too will pass._

It ricocheted right off the wall, headed straight for the Hufflepuffs once again. People, including Skoren and Ali, dove out of the way, but Levi unconsciously held up his hands, and caught the Calendar.

Surprisingly, it was extremely light. Levi felt it move and click beneath his hands, a warm buzzing that reminded him of his friends and the lazy, calm nights spent lounging around the common room fire.

He closed his eyes and smiled, the Calendar lighting up his body. White light shone through his every vein, every muscle, ever bone.

"_Quintaped_," the Creature Calendar whispered, but everyone could hear it. "_Quintaped. Quintaped._"

Before Levi lost consciousness he thought he could hear a high, piercing laugh.

_This too will pass._

**(Woah, that was fun. I don't think I've ever written anything quite so… psychedelic. Please review!)**


	4. 4

Levi awoke soon afterward. The sky had restored itself - the tables were back. The moon hung innocently in the sky.

But he could feel a tingling in his bones. He felt - supercharged. More powerful than ever.

"What on earth was that?" asked Ali, her face pale.

"I'm not quite sure," Levi replied quietly.

"Well…" the Minister began. "It appears that the selected Creature is the Quintaped."

"Thank you, children, for bearing witness to what just happened," McGonagall said stiffly. "Prefects, please escort your Houses to the common room."

Levi nodded at the rest of the Indestructibles, and they all inconspicuously Disillusioned themselves. They met by the doors.

"Dormitory," Levi whispered.

The others lightly punched him in the arm - to show that they understood where to go. The five waited for the door to creak open, then slipped out under the cover of the spell.

They raced down the staircases to the painting of the fruit, before realizing they didn't know the two-part password.

_"Specialis Revelio,"_ Ali said, pointing at the painting, which didn't do anything. "Oh, for heaven's sakes. Everybody with me."

_"Specialis Revelio,"_ they all muttered at once, and the painting glowed faintly. The shapes of several fruits were outlined, then a single one - the apple - was brightly lit for just one moment.

"Okay, who has it?" Ali asked. Levi raised his hand. "Let's go."

"Orange, banana, lemon, grape, watermelon, apple, peach-"

But Levi had accidentally said pear. The footsteps behind them grew louder.

"Again!" Ali hissed. "Orange, banana, lemon, grape, watermelon, apple, peach, pear. Now… _An apple a day keeps the Healer away!"_

The painting giggled softly and swung all clambered inside as quickly as possible and slammed the painting shut.

"Run!" Rose urged, pointing up the second-year's boys dormitory tunnel.

As they raced up the long passage, they heard the painting swing open and Perry Fardinger and Kate Swisher give the regular speech about Hogwarts to the first-years.

They reached the barrel door at last, and flung it open.

"Wow!" Skoren gasped as soon as they entered. The new dormitory had a much more interesting view. The green light of the lake still filtered in, but on one side of the window\ was a mass of aquatic plant life, vividly colorful.

"There's time for gawking later," Ali snapped. "Quick. _Colloportus maxima. Ululatibus. Protego maxima."_

"What's _Ulula_ - what was the second one?" Blake asked, sending spells at the door as well.

"The Caterwauling Charm," she replied. "I modified it so that only certain people can hear it. For example, us."

"Brilliant," Blake said appreciatively, and Ali beamed, still silently firing curses off at the door.

"Okay, so the Creature is a Quintaped," Rose said, taking out her wand, "And my wand has a Quintaped hair in it."

"Do you think that it could affect…?" Ali began, then gasped. "Maybe… no, maybe not… well…"

She made for the door, but Skoren blocked her.

"No way. You're not running off without telling us."

"Like you did last year?" Ali retorted snidely, but she didn't run for it. "What I'm figuring out is maybe that's why Ollivander only used three animal's body parts as core items! The dragon heartstring, unicorn hair, and the phoenix feather… Maybe… maybe the Creature Calendar also affects wands!"

"When we compared wands last year in the Hogwarts Express, we noticed that none of us had the regular wand cores!" Rose almost shouted. "Do you think he could have known about the Calendar?"

"But wouldn't there be a chance of getting one of the three Creatures on the Calendar anyway?" Blake asked.

"No," Levi said suddenly. Everyone turned to him.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" Ali asked.

"I just… I know that the dragon, the unicorn, and the phoenix weren't on the Calendar," he said confidently. "Trust me."

"Levi, you're glowing!" Skoren yelled.

And he was right. What had started as a tingling in his fingers had turned into the same milky white light that had glowed inside of him when he held the Calendar. It spread through his body, lighting up the inside of his skin.

"Gross!" Rose whispered.

"Cool!" Blake breathed.

"What the devil?" Skoren murmured.

Rose's wand glimmered softly, slipping out of her pocket and floating gently towards Levi. He caught it in his hands carefully.

"This Calendar is no good," muttered Blake. "I don't like it."

Levi felt a sudden rage build up in his bones. "Say that to my face!" he snarled.

"I think this Calendar is Dark magic!" shouted Blake angrily.

"No, stop!" Ali screamed. Both boys turned to look at her.

"Don't you understand?" she asked tearfully, and now Levi could see that she was crying. "Levi, when you touched the Calendar, it possessed you, somehow-"

"You're just making excuses because you don't like it!" he bellowed.

"OF COURSE I DON'T, MY FATHER COULD DIE!" she shrieked back, tears streaming down her face.

"WELL, THAT WOULDN'T BE THE CALENDAR'S FAULT!" he yelled back. "YOUR DAD JUST NEEDS TO LEARN TO DEFEND HIMSELF!"

Ali froze. She turned to him with a mingled expression of defeat, fear, anger, and worst of all, grief.

A rush of sorrow poured through Levi, and suddenly he felt the worst he had ever felt.

"You deal with him," she cried at Skoren. "He's all yours!"

She stormed out of the boy's dormitory, and, though Levi barely noticed it, straight through the barrel door.

As in, creating a hole in the door.

Fabian and Charlie clambered in.

"What's up with her?" they said at the same time.

"Oh, nothing's wrong with Ali," Rose said poisonously. "Levi here was just being an insensitive prat."

"I was not-" Levi began, but Rose just breezed by all the Hufflepuff boys. "Come on Blake, we're going."

Blake stared apologetically at Skoren and Levi, and followed Rose out of the hole in the door. Levi absentmindedly fixed it.

"You really were a git," Skoren said, but Levi's glare silenced him.

* * *

><p>Levi awoke in the middle of the night to find Skoren sitting at the window. Ever since his friend had discovered that only their fear of Manticores was what made him so good with plants, Skoren had been determined to only be good in Herbology by being friendly.<p>

"It's okay, little guy," he cooed to a purple anemone.

Levi got out of bed, not wanting to go back to sleep quite yet.

"'Lo, Levi," Skoren said quietly.

"Wotcher," he said back, grabbing his pillow and sitting it on the window ledge. "What's the plant's name?"

"Babel Polyp," Skoren replied, grinning. "It takes whatever words it hears and repeats them back in a different language of your choice."

"Wicked," Levi said, smiling.

_"Méchants,"_ the plant said back, in French.

"I've been teaching it Runes," he confided. "I thought it might be useful for it to translate the protective ones that are in the water."

He motioned to the various small white letters swimming and floating in the lakewater. The Runes within the water had given them quite some trouble last year.

"How can the Babel Polyp hear you?" he asked.

"Professor Longbottom suggested this dormitory for us especially for me," Skoren replied, grinning even wider. "They cast Voice-Passing Charms in the glass for me."

Levi just smiled and talked to the Babel Polyp some more.

"Listen, Levi," Skoren began. "What was up with the Calendar today?"

"Nothing," he retorted, but Skoren just stared disbelievingly at him. "Okay, I think I _am_ being possessed by the Calendar," he confided. Skoren's eyes widened.

"What do you mean?"

"Like I think the Calendar will use me to attack purebloods," he elaborated.

_"What?"_

"I think that the Quintapeds already had sentience before the Calendar announced it's choice, and bewitched it somehow to possess me. That way, they can kill off the purebloods within Hogwarts."

Skoren shivered.

"I'll put up some extensive charms and spells, just in case," Skoren said. "But Levi, why were you such an - I hate to say it - awful prat with Ali today?"

"It was the Calendar," Levi murmured. "I'm sure of it."

Skoren just stared at him for a while, before saying goodnight to the Babel Polyp, then to him.

* * *

><p><strong>The plot thickens! I'll try to alternate between updating this one and updating Osculum, my other Harry Potter story.<strong>


	5. 5

"Yeah, I think they noticed," Skoren remarked as he and Levi left the Hufflepuff common room. Ali wasn't waiting for them at her usual spot next to the Crawdad Deciduous Lei Bush at the sixth-year boy's dorm entrance, and the other Hufflepuffs were avoiding Levi like the plague.

"Shut up," Levi growled, and Disillusioned himself quickly. Skoren rolled his eyes and continued on.

"Well, at least you have Blake on your side," Skoren reasoned. "You might want to let Rose and Ali hex you a couple of times so they can get their anger out."

"No way," he muttered, and blasted the Great Hall's doors open with such a strong wind that they banged into the wall. The Minister For Magic was seated between McGonagall and Professor Weasley, a frown etched on his dark skinned face.

"I need to head to the library," Levi whispered to Skoren. "I need to find books on how to repel possessions by magic. Can we skive off first-"

"No," Skoren hissed, hair turning bright red. "We have double Herbology today. Don't even think about it."

"Okay, okay," he murmured, and thought. "What about-"

"Divination," Skoren said immediately. "Two of us have the Sight, no way I'm missing that chance."

"Merlin, when do we have any free time?"

"Well, lunch period we're spending with Professor Vector for Arithmancy, then next period Magical Creatures… I guess we could sneak in around 11 or 12."

"Merlin!" Levi sighed in defeat. He un-Disillusioned himself - causing several Hufflepuffs at the table to scoot away - and forked a pile of eggs onto his plate.

"Hello, Skoren," Ali said breezily, pushing a plateful of kippers into her place. She said absolutely nothing to Levi.

"Morning, Ali," Skoren said uncertainly, buttering a scone.

"Yes," she replied in a clipped tone, then pointed her wand straight at Levi's skull. "_Daemon_."

His skull spun, and a purplish haze surrounded him. It seemed the rest of Hufflepuff was getting as far away from the three as possible, some even falling off the table in their haste to escape.

"There are strains!" Ali yelled triumphantly, and her black hair suddenly was shining brightly, as if the sun's rays were directed all on her. "_Vade_."

Levi shook, and the smog surrounding him trembled slightly, but didn't disappear. Ali frowned.

"_Vade_."

"Ow!" Levi screamed, an incredible pressure building up in his brain. Ali stared at him, her face shining even brighter than her face, blinding, her features disappearing beneath the light.

"I'm doing this for your own good, Levi," she whispered to him, and then screamed, "_VADE_!"

The haze imploded, disappearing altogether, and he fell backwards, screaming in pain. Skoren and Ali bent over to catch him, Skoren staring in horror.

Ali was smirking in triumph.

* * *

><p>"Levi, stop putting so much stress on your brain," Skoren urged. The Indestructibles, all five of them, were gathered around his bed in the hospital wing, leafing through books all with similar titles. <em>Daemons<em>_ of__ the __Mind.__ Powers__ From __Within.__ How__ to __Tell__ if__ you __are __Being __Possessed._

"Are you sure you summoned all the books?" Levi asked Ali for the seventh time. She growled in impatience.

"Yes, Levi, I have," she said. Levi sighed - but at least she was now talking to him.

"Hey, this book has a Spell Dampener charm!" Blake said enthusiastically, holding up _The __Eighth __Official__ Dictionary __of__ Complex __Spells_. "Use this difficult spell, awarded the Most Dangerous Healing/Otherwise Spell of 2007, to cancel out the pain of either physically or mentally altering another. This charm was used by the early Walpurgis Knights to slowly torture their prisoners more and more until they gave information. Maybe we can use this to dispel the Quintapeds."

"How crudely effective," Rose shuddered, and thumbed another page of her book, _History__ of__ the__ Isle __of __Drear_. "Quintapeds are freaky, too. Listen to this - "The most empty-hearted of creatures, Quintapeds, though they have human origins, are flesh-eating monsters who prefer Irish skin above all else. Blake, watch your back."

"We need to have direct contact with a Quintaped," Skoren mused.

"Then you're in luck," McGonagall's voice said from the entryway. "Look here."

She strode into the room clutching a piece of paper, murmuring about the 'insanity of it all'. Levi leaned forward eagerly.

"Minister Shacklebolt was anonymously given an ancient book on a past Year of the Quintaped," McGonagall said disapprovingly. "It said that the _Insula__ Animalium_, a lost island, was made Unplottable and then… forgotten. On the island, they would build an extensively protected zoo made by the best wizards in the world to put the animals in for wizards and witches to observe and find out more about."

"Let me guess," Ali sighed. "They want us to find it."

"Yes," McGonagall agreed. "I think it's absurd, but you _are_ the most powerful magical beings in the world right now, besides the Quintapeds…"

"I'll go ahead," Ali said, "There's a bluff out near my home that looks out onto a lot of the sea - Skoren can Side-Along you all."

She nodded, Banished the stacks of books back to the library, and walked swiftly out of the room. McGonagall led the rest out.

"Levi, Madam Pomfrey is brewing a Strength Potion for you," his mother informed him. "She also has a photo of Ali's house for you."

"Thanks… Mom," he said quietly, and smiled shyly at her.

She grinned back, and left the hospital wing.

"I would be worried," a drawling voice said behind him.

"Who- who's there?" Levi said, jumping. He turned around to face a small portrait the size of his face. In it was a man that he recognized. "Oh… Professor Snape."

"Yes," was the portrait's reply.

"Why would you be worried?" he asked, then stopped. "Well, besides the Calendar…"

"I know nothing of the Calendar," Snape said shortly. "I was speaking of your friend Alexandra."

"Ali?" Levi muttered. "Why should I…?"

"Mermaids are dangerous folk, even more so than manticores or dementors," the old Potions professor explained. "You remember what happened when she attempted to release you from any possible possession, yes?"

"I thought she was just looking out for me," Levi breathed. "But you're saying…"

"The Glamour of the mermaid tribes is nearly unstoppable," Snape explained, getting louder. "Once it possesses them, there is no stopping it, not even by an 'Indestructible', as you call yourself. The Glamour is varied, destructive, and is only activated when a mermaid is within the deepest throes of emotion. It causes them to lose sight of anything but their objective, no matter the consequences, be it death of a friend or a family member."

Levi thought back to the terrible pain he had felt from the _Vade_ spell, and how maniacal his friend had become. How her hair had shimmered and she became terrifying in beauty, before being consumed by the light.

"Those present who weren't knocked unconscious lost all memory of the Glamour, including Alexandra. You must warn her of the consequences of this power."

"But how can we stop it?" Levi murmured.

"That I am unsure of," the dead man admitted. "I will research for you, however. There are extensive paintings of libraries within Hogwarts…"

"Thank you, Professor Snape," Levi said sincerely, bowing his head. "I have to warn Ali."

"Yes," Snape replied, and slunk out of the portrait. Levi jumped out of his bed in the hospital wing, Disillusioned himself, and walked out.

* * *

><p>Levi Apparated onto a grassy bluff, shaking a bit. McGonagall had explained it to him - when using Apparation based on only a photo, there was an increased chance of Splinching. Fortunately, he felt all of his limbs attached onto him.<p>

"Levi!" Blake called. He turned to see a charming red brick house built in the center of a valley before the bluff - he stood on the top of one of the green hills surrounding it.

He ran down to join them, reveling in the feel of cool grass against his bare leg. His school robe flew out behind him, caught in the biting winds that blew through the valley.

"Welcome, my boy!" a booming voice greeted. Ernie Macmillan, Ali's father, was a cheerfully plump man who seemed happy to see his daughter. "There should be a storm in about an hour, so you should go island hunting then!"

"Why do we need a storm?" Levi asked.

"It magnifies Ali's powers - being a mermaid, and all," Skoren explained. Levi felt a jolt of fear.

"We need to talk," he whispered hurriedly to everyone. Ernie stared at them, his smile faltering, unable to hear what Levi had said.

"Done," Ali nodded, and closed her eyes. In a second there was a loud squawking from the other side of the house.

"Galloping gargoyles, the chickens are free _again_?" moaned Ernie, before waddling off to get them.

"Okay, what?" Ali asked, and Levi told them quickly about his conversation with Snape.

"You're saying that I went into a Glamour state?" Ali whispered in horror when he was done. "That I almost killed you?"

"Yeah," Levi replied, not looking at her directly. "Snape's researching a way to combat the Glamour state in some library paintings, so we just have to figure out how to destroy the Calendar."

"But how?" Rose muttered despairingly, wringing her hands.

"Well, this _Insula __Animalium _is going to be a test," Ali said.

"Because," Skoren realized, his eyes lighting up, "if we can find some old wizard zoo, we can find the Isle of Drear!"

* * *

><p>The grey sky thundered ominously. The Indestructibles stood at the very edge of the bluff, after having reinforced the crumbling edge with some magic.<p>

"Okay, this has to work," Ali murmured to herself. "If we can find this, it's one step closer to destroying the Calendar for good…"

Levi Transfigured a nearby rock into a tree, then another, and another, until Ali was surrounded by a semicircle of trees.

"It should be easier to draw lightning to you this way,'' Levi explained, and waved his wand at the roaring waves below.

"_Surgere_," he whispered, and the walls of water grew even taller, splashing against the Indestructible's boots.

The crackle of thunder could be heard again, and Ali nodded at the rest, who stepped back into the trees.

{}

In a forgotten hallway in Hogwarts, Snape was poring over a large tome in a dim library painting, the actual inhabitant - a stuffy old witch named Candor Burgere - having been coerced into visiting another hag in a painting down the corridor.

Candor's library was all about the half-breed Arts - magic bestowed only upon those who were half-Beast and half-Being. Candor's sole claim to fame was being half-hag, and because of her lineage had a taste for her own children. Unfortunately, none were painted into her library, and so she had resorted to stealing children from their portraits and devouring them, until Headmaster Cusper Laberge had locked her into the hallway.

Snape had reached the end of the only book he hadn't read in her library. He closed the book's back cover, angry at himself for not being able to help further, when he heard the shifting of a piece of paper.

He hurriedly opened the book again to discover a crumbling note wedged into the back cover. Snape shook his head in awe - only a master painter could have made such meticulous detail.

He unfolded the piece of parchment slowly, so as not to damage it, and spread it out on Candor's desk, straining to read it in the dim, Gothic lighting.

_Please, someone read this, I beg of you._

_The fates of all half-humans are in the hands of the Calendar._

_The wicked Creatures that so turn on the same seven-year wheel are plotting something, I am sure of it. I have a plan to destroy them all, but it may fail._

_If at any time one of the seven are given enough chance, the world as we know it will be destroyed._

_I do not have enough time to tell you all, but I can say one thing at least:_

_It starts with the Quintaped._

_-Oliver van der Bac_

Snape looked up, eyes widening. He re-folded the parchment, stuck it into his pocket, and ran into an adjacent painting, one of a tower with an open window.

"It starts with the Quintaped," he muttered, mind racing. "It starts… with the Quintaped… seven-year wheel… wicked Creatures…"

He jumped out of the window, cloak fluttering around him and becoming giant bat wings. As Candor Burgere, shaking her fist at Snape, shambled back into her library, his flying form disappeared from the painting altogether.


	6. 6

"It's time," Ali breathed, her hair showing the slightest glimmer of light. The sky, for all its dull grey clouds, was giving off a strange light, as if knowing that its next few hours would be absolutely abnormal.  
>"We have the Memory Suppressant Charms set up," Skoren told her, his hand resting on her arm a moment too long to be just a reassuring pat. "The Muggles won't be able to remember anything abnormal about the storm."<br>"Let yourself go," Rose murmured. "Let the Glamour…"  
>"I know," Ali whispered, clutching her wand.<br>"You… can do it," Blake choked on his words, and Levi didn't miss the nasty glance Skoren shot at him. "Just come back to us."  
>"Of course I will!" she protested, and pulled the Gryffindor into a hug. "You know that."<br>Skoren was shooting daggers at Blake's back.  
>"Guys," Levi warned them, glancing towards the sky. The lightning, suppressed by several Repressing Curses, was breaking free of its bond.<br>Four of the five Indestructibles retreated several feet, where they began at once to set up magical wards around them. The air hummed and became nearly freezing with the weight and force of the magic.  
>Ali stood just outside of their barrier, balancing on the tip of the bluff. Her hair, caught in the fierce winds, silhouetted her face, her lithe form framed against the glowing sky.<br>"It's time," she repeated, like a mantra, over and over. Her hair began to crackle and snap, whip-like through the air. "Let me find the island. Let me find the island."  
>Her hair exploded like a firework, the blinding light Levi remembered all too well swarming into the air. It spun in, closer and closer, to the magical wards, threatening to break in from all sides. Levi remembered how grimly Snape had described the Glamour's unbreakable determination.<br>"_Tenebrae_." Rose muttered the Latin word for darkness, blasting a hole in the lights swirling around them.  
>Ali had dropped her wand onto the jagged rocks below, her hands sufficient for the terrible magic she was using. Hands stiffened into grotesque claws, she jumped and screamed like a madman, making sharp, slashing lines into the air. Lightning followed her every command, striking the water and making it crackle to life. Clouds periodically were pulled down into a funnel, the very sky being sucked out of position by the utter strength of mermish Glamour.<br>"Oh…" Skoren gasped when they saw Ali's face.  
>Her eyes had narrowed into barely-there almond slits, her skin taking on a greenish, scaly hue. Her hair was no longer shining somehow - it was as if there was a hole in the world, a place that made you feel blind. It was both dark and unimaginably bright at the same time.<br>"AAAAGH!" she shrieked, making the Indestructibles jump, as her hands brought a barrage of hurricane-force winds down onto the ocean. It rushed inwards, like a tsunami, slamming into the trees surrounding them and tearing them from the ground.  
>The ground began to shake as the earth beneath them split in two, an increasingly wide gap separating the four Indestructibles from one another.<br>The bluffs had been sliced in two, like bread, and the gap continued into the water, which poured frantically in to fill the giant hole. With a horrible scraping, destructive noise, Ali's house collapsed onto itself.  
>And then they saw it.<br>Perhaps caused by the earthquake Ali had created, perhaps drawn to such a strong force of magical energy, was a wall of water that stretched from horizon to horizon, and was so tall that it disappeared into the clouds high above.  
>Perched atop it was an island, somehow uprooted from its old mountain, a slab of stone grabbed by the massive tsunami.<br>"REINFORCE!" shrieked Rose from the other side, throwing spells desperately at the wards, which had been stretched and weakened by the earthquake. "_REINFORCE_!"  
>Skoren suddenly bent down and hissed mightily at the earth. Plants erupted from the ground as he realized the potential of the Manticore, twisting around his arms and forming a giant shield of plantlife armor. They grew within seconds, covering his body once and then once more, and then again, until a giant plant-man stood, towering, in front of the tidal wave.<br>_Dementors,_ Levi thought, and willed himself to fly, willed himself as hard as he could. He needed to get up there, he needed to help, he needed to save everyone…  
>His billowing black cloak tore itself to shreds, wrapping itself around his face, and he had begun to rise into the air when the water slammed into him, dragging him to the ground.<br>Not even his magic could save himself. It was like being in a dream, a horrible dream where things go from bad to worse.  
>The water roared all around him, crushing him, sending him straight for the ground.<br>His head slammed backwards into the earth, and he lost consciousness.  
>Levi's body was flung, over and over, into the ground, until it was unrecognizable in blood and broken, jutting bones.<br>The full moon presided over it all, shimmering as if nothing unusual had happened at all.

* * *

><p>Levi awoke to find that he couldn't open his eyes.<br>_ I'm blind,_ he screamed in his brain. _Oh Merlin, I'm blind, my eyes have been gouged out, oh Merlin, oh Merlin…_  
>He groped the ground, searching for his wand, until he realized it was probably a thousand splinters scattered by the four winds. Carefully he waved his hands in front of his face, casting a healing spell taught to him by Rose.<br>His eyes cleared of blood and unsealed themselves, his body returning to its original shape and form. It still felt like he was half-empty, like he had lost too much blood to ever recover it all.  
>He was attacked by light when he opened his eyes, and for a terrifying moment he thought the Glamour had returned, but it was only the bright grey morning after a storm.<br>He squinted against the light, finding himself to be in a large, green valley that had been torn in half by the storm. Chickens walked by as if nothing unordinary had happened, while several pieces of brick lay, shattered, on the muddy grass.  
>"Oh Merlin," he murmured softly, kneeling in despair onto the grass, staining his pants. "This was where Ali's house was."<p>

* * *

><p>Skoren awoke surrounded by warmth. He first thought he was in Hogwarts, in his four-poster bed next to the Babel Polyps and the rune-filled Lake, but then he felt the cold, sopping wet grass against his bare leg and knew that last night had not been solely a nightmare.<br>Then what was the source of the warmth?  
>He blinked groggily, adjusting to the sudden influx of light. He healed himself the way Ali had taught him during the summer, then nearly jumped up.<br>Lying next to him, curled into a tight ball, was Ali. Her hair lay draped in a black halo around her face, no longer possessed.  
>She moaned softly and pushed herself into the grass instinctively, wishing subconsciously for a bed.<br>Skoren smiled, unable to do any real magic without his wand, and whispered quietly to the ground. Vines snaked around their bodies, warming the two and drying the grass, and he slipped back into sleep, arms wrapped protectively around Ali.

* * *

><p>Blake awoke instantly. It was instinctive, really, for him to get up quickly.<br>Only he had several broken bones and countless bruises.  
>Wincing, he hobbled over to a pile of rocks that hadn't existed the night before, which sat on the lip of the now-empty valley. He didn't know where Ernie Macmillan had gone, or where the rest of his friends were.<br>However, glancing at the calm waters of the ocean, he knew one thing.  
>The <em>Isla Animalium<em> had returned.  
>Another shape, human in form, caught his eye. It lay splayed across the cliff top, broken and twisted.<br>"Rose?" he breathed. "Rose!"  
>Ignoring the pain, ignoring the throbbing that was a bone sticking out of his skin, Blake sprinted to her body, which looked as if it had been Splinched many times over.<br>"Oh no, oh no, oh _Merlin_, hang in there Rose," he murmured, tears filling his eyes, as he ran a bloody hand over her cheek.  
>In earlier times, in his childhood, Blake's mother had attempted to convince him to pray. Blake never had done so, only pretended to by taking the accepted stance.<br>Now Blake kneeled at the bluff's edge, looked skywards, and prayed.  
>"Please," he muttered under his breath. "If you're listening, please. <em>Please<em>."  
>He had a feeling that if anyone was listening, they'd understand him.<p>

* * *

><p>"What should I do, Albus, did you see that storm?" Minerva McGonagall screamed at the portrait. "It broke the Memory charms, all of Britain knows about the storm! And we haven't heard from the children." She paused, then burst into tears. "My children. My <em>child<em>."  
>"The Glamour is a terrible thing," comforted Albus. "You must go to the bluff. Despite their strength, they are only twelve years old, Minerva. Now, go!"<br>She nodded, sucked her tears up, and Disapparated away.  
>"Why do I have a sinking feeling," Albus remarked, "that this is all somehow connected to the Creature Calendar?"<br>"You may be right," a grim, familiar voice said from a previously unoccupied painting.  
>"Hello, Severus," Dumbledore sighed.<p>

**(Wow, intense! That was fun to write! And for those who are wondering, I imagine Ali's magic as looking like Bloodbending from the Avatar: The Last Airbender series. Very creepy and unnatural.)**


	7. 7

"Levi!"  
>Levi whipped his head around to see his beloved mother racing towards him, boots squelching into the mud.<br>"Mum!" he hollered, and hugged her tightly around the middle.  
>"Oh, you poor child…" she murmured into his hair. "You poor child."<br>"I don't know what happened," Levi whispered. "I don't even know if we found the island."  
>"The most important thing is finding your friends," she told him firmly. "Come on."<br>They walked against the wind, up the side of the valley. The chickens pecked at their feet, foraging in their new existence.  
>The McGonagalls reached the top of the valley. Levi let go of his mother's hand and gasped.<br>There, in the water, was the _Insula Animalium_, sitting innocently, unaware of the pain and strain it had caused. It was made almost entirely of stone, and was built around a giant, deep pit in the center.  
>"There's Blake!" Minerva yelled, pointing to a pile of rocks.<br>"And Rose!" Levi added, and the two raced to the two Indestructibles.  
>"Professor!" Blake called weakly, and it was only then that Levi noticed the blood leaking out of his friend. He threw a healing spell at Blake, who sighed in relief.<br>Rose was a lot worse. Levi gulped in horror - not a single finger was pointing the right way, one of her legs was turned backwards, her neck snapped…  
>"Oh lord," whispered Minerva, gently levitating Rose off the rocks. "She needs to get to St. Mungo's right away." She turned to Blake, who had gotten up off of his knees, and Levi. "Find Alexandra and Skoren. Bring them to either the hospital wing or St. Mungo's depending on their injuries."<br>The two nodded, and with that, Minerva Disapparated.  
>"Wait…" Blake called to Levi, who had set off to the right. "<em>Invenitis<em>," he murmured, a finger to the ground.  
>Find them.<br>A shockwave, visible due to its magic, flew out from where Blake's finger touched the wet grass. A moment later a shower of blue and red sparks appeared, from behind a hill nearby.  
>They ran towards the hill to find Ali and Skoren, tucked beneath a blanket of plants, sleeping softly. Both appeared to be healed.<br>"Thank Merlin," breathed Blake, then whispered, "_Ennervate_." Levi couldn't help but notice that he seemed to be scowling.  
>Skoren's and Ali's eyes opened at precisely the same time. Ali's darted to Skoren, then to the plants surrounding them. She blushed, and wordlessly broke the vines, getting up. She then nearly fell backwards, but was caught by Blake.<br>"My… my house," she breathed, tears forming in her eyes at the sight of her house, or rather, at the sight of _not_ seeing her house.  
>She turned desperately to Levi, then Skoren, then Blake. "But what about… what about my dad?"<br>Levi looked solemnly at the ground, and Ali burst into tears.

* * *

><p>The four conscious Indestructibles stood, like solid statues, around Rose's bed in St. Mungo's. Blake was at the foot, shivering at the sight of his broken Housemate's body. Ali was blinking rapidly, pushing her tears backwards, on Rose's left side. Levi stood quietly at her other side, staring at her mangled hand. And Skoren stood next to her wooden bedside table at the head, biting his lip.<br>"Bloody HELL!" Skoren yelled suddenly, causing the others to jump out of their skins. He slammed his fist against the desk, then leapt backwards as a small forest sprung out of it.  
>"Skoren-" Ali began, but he cut her off.<br>"Before you ask me what's wrong," he growled, "I'll tell you. One of my best mates is on the edge of death, another has freakish powers, another's a dementor, and another is stealing my girl!"  
>"Wha-" Blake stammered. "What are you-"<br>"I wish we didn't have _any_ of these powers!" he screamed at Blake, spit flying from his mouth. "Was that loud enough to get through your thick skull?"  
>He glowered at Ali and Levi before muttering, "I wish I wasn't even a wizard."<br>Then, Skoren left the room.  
>"Did he- did he mean it?" Ali asked in a tremulous voice, shaking. "Am I… a freak?"<br>"No, you're not," Blake murmured soothingly, grabbing her by the arms. "Of course you're not. You're… beautiful."  
>Levi looked down at his hands. Were they the hands of a dementor, just because of birth.<br>_Yes,_ he told himself. _If Skoren can manipulate plants and Ali has the Glamour, then I can give the Kiss. I'm a dementor in a wizard's body._  
><strong>Yes, you can give the Kiss,<strong> a new voice told him. **You can give it to all the horrible pure-blood wizards now, can't you?**  
>"No…" Levi whispered, gripping the side of the bed. "Ali…"<br>"What?" she sniffled, looking up.  
>"Ali, what's the banishing spell for the demons?" he asked tremulously, shaking like a leaf.<br>"Why do- oh _no_."  
>Levi's hands stiffened, then began to reach for his own throat.<br>** Of course, half-breeds are as bad as pure-bloods, if we want to be honest with ourselves,** the voice said now.  
>"NO! LEVI! <em>VADE! VADE! VADE!<em>"  
>The terrible, rushing pain filled his mind once more, as his new subconscious was once again forced out of his head.<br>**You've got me this time,** it whispered insanely, **but I can come back whenever. You can never get rid of me. We'll always be together now.**  
>Levi crumpled to the floor, hitting his head with a dull clang against the metal bedframe.<p>

* * *

><p>Blake, Ali, and Skoren sat at Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor in Diagon Alley, three untouched sundaes sitting in front of them. Skoren was making the moss in the stone beneath them grow up and down; Ali braided her hair; Blake looked at the clear blue sky.<br>"We can't avoid each other forever," Skoren muttered suddenly, letting the moss retreat into the ground. "We're stuck together."  
>"Is this all it takes?" Ali asked with a hollow laugh, dropping her hands to her lap. "One small little disagreement is all it takes to pull the Indestructibles apart?"<br>"It appears to be so," Blake said scornfully, looking directly at Skoren.  
>"What is this disagreement about?" Skoren shot back. "May as well say it out loud."<br>"It's about me, and you two are being ridiculous second-years," Ali said briskly. "Now, get your acts together, because we have to destroy the Calendar with or without you two, although both would be appreciated."  
>Still glowering at each other, the two boys nodded, then looked away.<br>After a moment, Blake sat up straighter in his chair. "Don't think you're so high-and-mighty," he hissed at Skoren. "I may not have had a crazy family secret or anything, but-"  
>"But that's where you're wrong," an old voice croaked, and the three spun in their chairs to face none other than Ollivander.<br>"Hello, Mr. Ollivander," Ali said pleasantly. "What do you mean?"  
>"Can't say," he murmured, then added, almost like an afterthought, "<em>Depulso<em>."  
>Ali went flying through the air and hit a brick storefront, losing consciousness in an instant.<br>"I'm sorry, but this is for the good of the world," he told the two boys, and set their bodies on fire.

* * *

><p><strong>(Ooh! What's going on? Will Skoren and Blake resolve their differences? Who will get Ali in the end? And why on earth is Ollivander trying to kill them?Find out next time!)<strong>


End file.
